Individuals won’t be able to advertise or sell guns (Picture: Getty Images)

Licensed firearms retailers can still promote their businesses on Facebook, but are not allowed to accept orders or make sales on the site.

The new policy also applies to the social network’s photo-sharing service Instagram.

Gun control groups have long complained Facebook and other online sites were frequently used by unlicensed sellers and buyers not legally eligible to purchase firearms.

Facebook ‘was unfortunately and unwittingly serving as an online platform for dangerous people to get guns’, said Shannon Watts of Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that launched a public campaign to convince the social network to change its policies two years ago.

The group allegedly found numerous cases of criminals and minors who were able to buy guns on the site, including two cases in which the buyers used the guns to kill others.

A Facebook spokeswoman said the new policy arose from the company’s review of its rules following its recent efforts to encourage new forms of commerce on the site.